Defence’s decision not to renew long-running software support deal raises questions over critical information systems

Objective said its ECM platform supports approximately 140,000 Defence users across every division, providing document and records management capabilities that underpin operational information governance, including support for deployed military forces.

While Defence has confirmed it intends to continue using Objective ECM, the expiry of the support agreement means the department will no longer have access to Objective’s dedicated engineering support, software upgrades or remediation services for newly discovered security vulnerabilities under the previous contractual arrangements.

The development has emerged despite months of negotiations between the two parties.

According to Objective, discussions on renewing the agreement began in March and had reached agreement on commercial terms before Defence ultimately decided not to proceed with the renewal.

The company also said negotiations remain unresolved regarding ongoing software licensing arrangements covering the department’s full user base.

Objective has been a key supplier to Defence since 1999, with its ECM platform becoming the largest document and records management system deployed anywhere in the Australian public sector.

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The company said the system forms the backbone of Defence’s operational record-keeping capability.

However, Objective argued that Defence has not adopted the company’s next-generation technology roadmap despite substantial investment over recent years.

Since releasing Objective ECM 11 in 2021, the company said it has invested around $150 million into sovereign Australian research and development, delivering three generations of its successor platform, Objective Nexus.

The new platform incorporates artificial intelligence capabilities and can be deployed either in secure cloud environments or on-premises installations.

Objective says Defence has not transitioned to the newer platform under the now-expired agreement. The company also emphasised that neither Defence nor any third-party contractor has access to the source code underpinning its software.

While the contract’s expiry is expected to reduce Objective’s annual recurring revenue, the company said there will be no impact on its revenue or earnings for the current financial year.

Objective expects annual recurring revenue to finish broadly in line with the previous financial year on a constant currency basis. Had the Defence agreement been renewed as anticipated, the company said recurring revenue growth would likely have remained within its forecast range of 10 to 14 per cent.

Objective founder and chief executive Tony Walls described the outcome as disappointing, particularly given the longstanding relationship between the two organisations.

He said the company remained committed to Australia’s sovereign technology sector and would continue investing heavily in products supporting Defence, national security and Five Eyes partners.

Objective currently reinvests around 30 per cent of its annual software revenue into research and development, much of it focused on Australian-based engineering capability and the accelerated development of AI-enabled software.

Although the support agreement has ended, the company stressed it remains able to pursue future Defence work and continues to maintain specialist expertise across Defence’s information governance environment.

Objective said it intends to redirect engineering resources previously dedicated to Defence-specific software maintenance towards accelerating development of its next-generation products for Defence and broader national security customers.

The expiry of the support agreement marks the end of one of Australia’s longest-running sovereign software partnerships with Defence and raises broader questions about how the department intends to support and modernise one of its most widely used information management systems while maintaining cyber resilience and operational continuity.

Stephen Kuper

Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.